Imitation roadbed



Nov. 19, 1935. E. J. MARTIN IMITATION ROADBED Filed Jan. 31. 1935 Fig .l

O,- m m INVENTOR. J Ada/fin ATTORNEY.

A -"award Patented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an imitation road-bed for toy railroad tracks which is an accessory, and may be supplied as a separate and independent unit, and may readily be attached to or installed on a toy train track.

The invention is an imitation road-bed having representations of ties thereon inwhich sections-may be placed between the rails and other sections may extend from the outside of the side railsoutward, forming a representation of a complete road bed, and this may be used asa unit or in combination with telegraph poles, towers, crossings, switches, or other devices that may be mounted upon or usedin combination with theroad-bed.

Other road-beds for toy tracks have been provided, however in each case these attempt to make the whole-track and road-bed as a unit, or to make the road-bed an integral part of the track, and as large quantities of this track are already made and a large portion thereof now in-use and also as the machinery to make the track: iscomparatively expensive it isdesired to provide a road-bed as aseparate and-independent unitlwhich may'be supplied with, or independent of the track and readily used by mounting it upon tracks already made and now in use.

The object of the invention is, therefore, to provide an imitation road-bed for toy tracks which-may readily be applied to any track without changingany part of the track.

Another object is to provide an imitation roadbed for toy tracks in which representations of the ties extend upward from the surface thereof, making it realistic.

Another object is to provide an imitation roadbed for' toy tracks having means holding the re-.

spective parts thereof'to the track.

Another object is to provide an imitation roadbed for toy tracks which may be made in sections substantially the same as the length of the sections of the track.

A further object is to provide an imitation road-bedfor toy tracks made in sections corresponding with the sections of the track, and having means-splicing or holding the ends of the sections together.

Astill further object is to provide an imitation i'oad-bed for toy tracks in which telegraph poles, towers; switches, crossings, or other devices may be used therewith.

And a still further object is to provide an imitation road-bed that may readily be applied to toy tracks which is of a simple and economical construction.

With these ends in View, the invention embodies an imitation road-bed comprising sloping sections extendng from the outside of the outer rails of a toy track, means connecting said sections, and intermediate sections adapted to be placed be- 5 tween the rails of the track in which raised portions are provided in all of said sections to rep resent the railroad ties.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the'following description, 10 taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure I is a plan view of a track showing the imitationroad-bed installed thereon.

Figure 2 is across section through the track and road-bed.

Figure 3 is a detail showing a telegraph pole mounted in said road-bed;

Figure aisa cross section through the part of the road-bed between the rails showing the representations of the railroad ties.

Figure 5 is=a similar section showing a splice between the ends of said sections.

Figure 6- is a'detailshowing a portion of one of the side sections forming one of the shoulders of the road-bed.

Figure 7 is a detail showing an extension from one end of one of said side sections showing one method of forming a joint between the ends of the sections.

Figure 8 is a detail showing an alternate arrangement in which a thin metal clip is placed over the joint between the said sections.

Figure 9 is a detail showing another alternate arrangement in which the side sections are provided as separate and independent units, and these are provided with spring clips which snap under the cross members of a toy track.

Figure 10 is a similar detail showing an alternate arrangement in which spring clips are provided which snap over the ends of the cross members.

Figure 11 is an end view showing the spring clip shown in Figure 10.

Figure. 12 is a detail showing another alternate arrangement in which the side members are provided with hooks adapted to extendunder the rails andhook over the flanges at the opposite sides thereof.

Figure 13 is' a similar view showing an alternate type of hook in which the-hook extends from the outer edge of the section.

Figure 14 is'a'similar detail showing another alternate design in which the side sections are provided with pins which may be placed in opentrack upon which the device may be used.

In the design shown in Figure 2 this road-bed is made with a continuous base member 4 and the side sections I are formed on the edges thereof and folded upward at the points 5 and 8, and at these points the member may be provided with reinforcing tape 7 and 8 which may be cemented on the inside of the joints as shown, or on the outside, or used in any manner to reinforce the break or bend of the material at these points. In this design the edges of the sections I extend upward on an incline so that they pass over cross members 9 upon which the track 3 is mounted, and the edges of these sections engage the edges of the vertical webs of the rails, as shown at the points Iii. These edges are provided with raised portions S I representing the ends of the railroad ties, and it is preferred to make these somewhat irregular, as shown in Figure 1, to give the road-bed a more natural appearance. These raised portions may be made by impressing the edges of the sections I, as shown in Figure 6, or in any manner. It will be understood, however, that this is only one method of forming the side sections of the roadbed, as these sections may also be formed in independent units, as shown in Figures 9 to 14, in which each side is formed and supplied independent, and each section thereof is made identical so that it may be stamped from the same dies and printed by the same plates. These sections are preferably made of flat pieces of material, and they may be made of heavy paper, cardboard, metal, or any material. Their outer surfaces may be colored or printed, or representations of the ties and shoulders or of the ballast, crushed rock, and cinders may be placed thereon in any manner or by any means. These sections may also be formed with openings to accommodate telegraph poles, as indicated by the numeral I2 and shown in Figure 3, or different objects or devices may be formed or moulded therein, or attached thereto to hold or form switch boxes, towers, railroad crossings, gates, or any objects.

With these sections formed as shown in Figure 2 the Figures 1 and 4 may be formed from a strip of material and folded at the points 5 and 6, however, as hereinbefore stated, the member 4 may be omitted and the sections provided as separate and independent units. With the sections provided as independent units, it is necessary to provide some means for holding the sections to the track, and in Figure 9 a spring clip I3 is shown which is attached to the under side of the section, which is indicated by the numeral I4, at the point I5, and it will be noted that the spring clip extends into the cross member 9 of the track. In Figures 19 and 11 a spring clip of a different design is shown, and this clip I6 is attached to the under side of the section I4 with the ends thereof extending over the cross member 9, as shown in Figure 11. In Figure 12 a hook I! is provided on the under side of the section I4 and this extends around the rail so that it may hook on the flange on the opposite side thereof. A similar hook is shown in Figure 13 in which the hook is indicated by the numeral I8, however this hook is attached to the outer edge I9 of the section I4, and the inner preferably made of spring the spirit of the of when the sections are installed upon the track. ,5 a

It will be understood, therefore, that these sections may be attached by any number of different means, and while a few methods are shown it is understood that an attempt is not made to show every possible method, as any means may be used for attaching or holding these sections in place.

The intermediate sections 2 do not require clips or other holding means, as they fit snugly inside of the track or between the rails, as shown in Figure 2, and these may also be made of the same length as the sections of the track and with the end of one part abutting the end of the part in a complementary section of track as shown at the points 2|. may be made under the representations of the ties as shown in Figure 5 in which a tongue 22 of one section extends under an overlapping tongue 23 of another section which is made to represent a tie, and it will also be understood that these joints or splices may be made in any other manner.

The ends of the sections I may also be made plain so that one will abut the other, or one end may be provided with a tongue 24, as shown in Figure 7 which may extend under the end of the adjoining section to make a complete joint, or these edges may be held together by a thin metal clip 25, as shown in Figure 8, which is will slide over the ends of two adjoining sections to hold the ends together and prevent one end raising or bending upward which would make the joint perceptible.

This imitation road-bed may, made in various designs and in different forms, and diiferent means may be used for connecting the parts thereof together or to the track, and different means may be provided for using other devices in combination therewith, however the road-bed comprises sections placed between the rails and sections extending from the sides of the rails with representations of railroad ties on the different sections andwith the side sections representing the shoulders of the road-bed.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the construction Without departing from invention, one of which changes may be in the use of the device without the representations of the ties being raised above the surface thereof, another may be in the use of other means for covering the inside of the track, another may be in the omission of the members inside of the track, and still another may be in the use of other means adapted to be attached to the track to represent the ties and shoulders of the road-bed.

The construction will readily be understood from the foregoing description. In use this device may be provided as a separate and independent unit and supplied in combination with or independent of a toy train track, and whereas only straight sections are shown, it will be understood that sections may be provided for extending around curves or in switches, or at material so that'it therefore, be

However, these joints crossings, or to accommodate different members of parts of railroad tracks, and these sections may be shaped or formed in any manner. When setting up a track, the intermediate sections between the rails may be pressed in between the rails so that they will rest upon the cross members upon which the rails are mounted, and the side sections may be folded up or attached to the rails or cross members so that they will extend out as shown, arid with these parts in place the track will present a very unique and distinct appearance.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: i

l. A road-bed for a toy track comprising a base member upon which the track may be placed, folding sides adapted to be folded from the edges of said base member and folded over with the inner edges resting upon the track, said folding sides having representations of the ends of ties and ballast thereon, and strips of material also having representations of railroad ties and ballast adapted to be placed between the rails. v

2. An imitation road-bed as described in claim 1 in which the representations of the ties are pressedwupward from the material.

3. An imitation road-bed comprising fiat pieces of material having representations of railroad ties and ballast on the inner edges thereof, said inner edges adapted to be placed upon the sides of a toy track with the remaining por- 5 tions of said pieces of material sloping outward to points a substantial distance from the track providing imitations of the sides of the road bed, and other flat pieces of material also having representations of ties and ballast thereon 10 adapted to be placed between the rails.

4. An imitation road-bed as described in claim 3 in which portions of the material are pressed upward to form the representations of the ties.

5. An imitation road-bed comprising flat 15 pieces of material having representations of railroad ties and ballast on the inner edges thereof, said inner edges adapted to' be placed upon the sides of a toy track with the remaining portions of said pieces of material sloping outward to 20 points a substantial distance from the track providing imitations of the sides of the road bed, means holding said flat pieces of material in position upon said track, and other flat pieces of material also having representations of ties 2 5 and ballast thereon adapted to be placed between the rails.

EDWARD J. MARTIN. 

